The Ice Queen

Chapter Twenty Two
"You have a glow about you," Nick smirked and I looked at him crazy, "Did you break the rule and get laid?"

"What?" Mike yelled.

"What are you talking about, Nick?" I asked, trying not to panic.

"Look at her, she's like glowing! I think she got laid last night," Nick laughed and I rolled my eyes, "Come on, who was it?"

"No one, what the hell did you smoke this morning?" I growled and then headed towards my car, seeing Nick laughing and Mike glaring at the ground.

"Yo AJ!" I looked and saw Alex looking at me, "Your turn for lunch!"

"How many?" I asked and Alex held up four fingers and I nodded my head and looked at my watch, "I got some stuff at home."

"All right," he said as I climbed into my car.

The guys and I had just finished our morning skate, then some of them were going to come back to my place for a big spaghetti meal before they go home to take their nap before the game against the Bruins tonight. When we had home games, Mike, Nick, Alex and Alex Semin usually took turns hosting the big lunch, this time it was my turn.

The guys followed me back to the house and made themselves at home on the couch while I walked into the kitchen and started to make lunch. I heard someone whine and looked down to see Duke sitting at my feet, I laughed and then bent down and scratched his head.

"Smells good," Mike said as he walked into the room and I snorted.

"I haven't started to cook anything yet," I laughed and Mike walked over towards me and smirked.

"You want some help?" he asked and I smiled.

"Sure, you can start grilling the shrimp," I said and he nodded his head and walked into the fridge and grabbed the uncooked shrimp. I was going to make Penne Vodka with grilled shrimp, they seem to like my cooking, and I like making new things.

"New recipe?" Mike asked and I smirked and nodded my head, "You just like it because it has vodka in it."

"No!" I laughed, "Shut up, our Captain might only like it because it has vodka in it, crazy Russian."

"What about your Captain?" Alex yelled from the other room.

"Nothing!" Mike and I yelled and then laughed.

"Don't worry, the alcohol will dissolve when we heat it," I said and Mike smirked and nodded his head. I heard the doorbell ring and wondered who it was, hoping that it wasn't Milan, not when I had a full house of teammates, "Can one of you get that?!"

"Yeah!" someone yelled and I sided and stuck the noodles into the boiling water and added a little salt so that they didn't stick.

"AJ!" someone called and I looked through the little window in the kitchen to see Alex standing in the doorway with a Fedex man, "You have a package."

"Sign for me, my hands are a little icky," I said because I started to help Mike place the shrimp into the stovetop grill. I heard Mike snort from standing next to him and I looked up at him confused, "What?"

"You're short," he smirked and I rolled my eyes.

"Tell me something I don't know," I laughed and felt his arm nudge into my shoulder.

The shrimp cooked fast, I was making the sauce right now, while the penne noodles cooked. By the time the food was ready, we were all starving and it was close to one in the afternoon. Mike helped me plate the food and I handed it off to the guys as they came into the kitchen, and then watched as they walked over towards the table, knowing my rule of no eating in the living room. The guys knew to watch where they stepped because Duke plus food equaled under feet.

"Here, AJ," I heard and turned my head to see Alex holding a little thin Fedex box. I looked at it confused, not having ordered anything, or expecting anything.

"What does it feel like?" I asked and he looked at me confused.

"You're not expecting it?" he asked and I shook my head.

"I'll open it after lunch, I'm starving," I said and then guys nodded their heads and sat at the table and started to chow down. I heard a few muffle with stuffed faces that it was good and I smirked and nodded my head.

By the end of lunch, there were no leftovers, and I smirked, knowing that I was going to have to put that recipe in the 'To Do Again' pile. The guys all thanked me for lunch and then started to help me clean up before heading back to their homes for their pregame nap. Mike and Nick loaded my dishwasher while I cleaned the counters and Semin cleaned the tables, our Captain playing with the mystery package that had sat in the middle of the table during lunch.

"Are you going to open it?" Alex said and I sighed and walked over towards him and took the package.

I must have flipped it over five or six times, but I couldn't find a return address, it was way too weird. I sighed and opened the box to see that there was a disc in it, I pulled it out and looked at it confused and then back towards Alex, who was also looking at me confused.

"What is it?" Mike asked and I shook my head, not knowing.

I walked into the living room to grab my laptop and then laid it on the kitchen table and moved the mouse around to wake the computer up. I stuck the disc into the laptop and waited for it to begin.

"There was nothing in the box?" Nick asked and I shook my head.

"Just the disc," I muttered and then sighed and hit play and then turning my head to see that the guys were around me staring at the screen. It was taking forever to load, I sighed and then grabbed the box again and looked at the lid, reading every word on it to possibly get a clue where this came from.

"What the hell?" Mike muttered and I looked up and was a little taken back.

"Who's ass is that?" Alex asked.

"I'm more concerned with why Alyssa got this," Semin said and I nodded my head.

"Sick perv- Is that Marchand?!" Nick asked and my eyes widened when I saw Brad's face.

'...This is-...'

"Who's the woman?" Alex asked and I gasped and pulled away from my chair when the video skipped ahead to where Brad and my mom where in bed.

"Alyssa?" Semin called when I walked away from the guys and glared at the ground.

"AJ, what's up? I know that this person's sick for- Wait, do you know this woman?" Mike asked and I looked up towards the guys and then walked back over towards the laptop and slammed the top down, not wanting to hear or see anything anymore.

'...He said he was drunk! That wasn't drunk!...' I thought as I rubbed my face and then felt a hand on my arm and looked up to see Alex.

"What's going on?" he asked and I sighed, "Does this have to deal with what happened in Boston last month?"

I nodded my head and Alex sighed and asked again what happened, "Brad was with-" I sighed and shook my head, leaning against the kitchen counter and seeing the guys looking at me, "I grew up in Halifax, I was friends with Sidney Crosby, but my best friend growing up was Brad Marchand," I started and the guys sat down, probably figuring that this was going to take a while to explain, "We did everything together, he was like an older brother to me. When I was fourteen, my mom and dad got divorced, it was a terrible marriage anyways," I sighed and then ran my fingers through my hair, "My mom got custody of me while my dad got my sister. We moved to Boston and went to high school there and then Boston U, started to play hockey- When Brad became a Bruin, he found me and we picked up right where we left off. I met the team, became fast friends with most of them-" I sighed and looked at the ground sadly, "When Brad asked me to come up this Christmas, there was no hesitation- So when I found out that he," I glared at the ground and clenched my fists, looking at my teammates to see them looking at me sadly, "You gotta understand that the relationship with I have with that woman is not a good one, she's not a good person."

"Who is she?" Mike asked and I sighed.

"You couldn't tell when you say her?" I asked and then sighed.

"She's your mother, isn't she?" Semin asked and I nodded my head.

"Marchand slept with your mother?" Mike asked and I nodded my head.

"I can't stand that woman- He knows I can't stand her! He said that he was trying to help clean her up because she wanted to see me-"

"Clean her up?" Alex asked and I nodded my head.

"She's a drug abuser, has been since her divorce," I said and Alex sighed and nodded his head, "Brad says he was drunk-"

"That didn't look like he was drunk!" Mike said and I nodded my head.

'...What am I going to do?...'